1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates generally to welding, and more particularly to a welding slag hammer which also incorporates a reamer on the hammer. The reamer is used to conveniently clean welding spatter from the inside of a gas-shroud type welding nozzle. This way, the welder has conveniently available in one tool both the slag hammer and the reamer.
2. Related Art.
Welders have used slag hammers to remove weld drip and spatter from pieces being welded. Typically, the slag hammer has a handle which is connected to a shaft which is connected to a head. The head has an end which is flattened and sharpened to be like an ax or chisel blade. The welder uses the slag hammer by grasping the handle and swinging the hammer so that the blade strikes the weld spatter and knocks it off the piece being welded.
Welders have also used gas-shrouded welding nozzles. In gas-shrouded welding, an inert gas, such as argon, for example, is flowed through a cylindrical, hollow nozzle. The nozzle also has the welding rod centered in it, the rod extending out slightly from the nozzle in order to be able to contact the piece to be welded. This way, a blanket of inert gas is laid down around the tip of the welding rod where it contacts the piece to be welded, shielding the weld point from the air, and from undue combustion and oxidation.
Often, weld spatter enters the inside of the gas shroud nozzle, tending to plug it. Then, the welder must remove the welding rod from the nozzle in order to clean the nozzle. Often, the cleaning has been done with a chisel or a long nail or other sharp tool which can be inserted inside the nozzle. If the cleaning tool is not of a size appropriate for the inside of the nozzle, the nozzle may be damaged by the cleaning operation. Also, if the cleaning tool is not conveniently available to the welder, the welder may delay, or fail, to clean the nozzle, resulting in plugged nozzles and welding down-time. Therefore, there is still a need for a convenient and effective reamer for a gas shroud welding nozzle.